Hugo Chavez, the champion of Venezuela's millions of poor was worth over $1 billion at the time of his death having plundered his country's enormous oil wealth according to a respected analyst.

A report from risk assessment and global analysis firm Criminal Justice International Associates (CJIA) alleges that the Chavez family and hundreds of other associates have stolen one-tenth of the $1 trillion raked in by Venezuela since 1999 in oil sales.

The head of the CJIA, Jerry Brewer has said that since Chavez rose to power in 1999, his family have joined in league with criminal organizations to appropriate $100 billion up until his death on on March 5th 2013.

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Residents participate in the funeral procession in honor of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on the streets of Caracas yesterday

A crowd accompanies the coffin of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez upon its arrival at the Military Academy in Caracas

Members of the military escort, the Venezuelan National Guard, hold a security fence during the funeral procession

Mourning: Thousands of residents lined the streets in Venezuela yesterday as
the casket holding President Hugo Chavez was driven through the streets

Followers of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez observe the passing of the coffin with his remains at Paseo de los Proceres in Caracas, Venezuela

Rosa Virginia Chavez, daughter of Hugo Chavez, waves from inside a bus upon her arrival at the Military Academy yesterday

This follows scenes yesterday, when
tens of thousands of ‘Chavistas’ dressed in revolutionary red lined the
streets of Venezuela yesterday to witness President Hugo Chavez’s coffin
being driven through the city centre.

His
coffin, adorned with his country's flag, was placed on the top of a car
and driven slowly to the military academy where his body will lie in
state for three days before a massive state funeral on Friday.

Chavez,
who was 58, died after a two-year cancer battle that has been shrouded
in secrecy. And it appears his death is to take on the same level of
mystery as claims emerged yesterday that he died in a Cuban hospital
instead of a military hospital in Venezuela's capital, Caracas.

Spanish newspaper ABC claimed
that after Chavez's health deteriorated after he returned to Cuba on Friday
for emergency treatment.

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Unnamed sources told the paper Chavez was secretly moved back to Cuba and died there yesterday morning. ABC claims that Chavez died
at 7am Cuban time when his family made the decision to withdraw care. To back up the claims it was noted that government ministers were not seen attending his
bedside.

Yesterday there was a heavy military presence amid
fears of unrest with soldiers deployed after Venezuelan
officials called for peace and unity stating in television
broadcasts that the government and the military were standing together.

The outspoken left-winger, was staunchly anti-American and enjoyed close ties to states such as Russia and Iran.

His
death has left his supporters, named Chavista's, devastated - Chavismo
is the name given to the left-wing political ideology based on the ideas
and government style associated with the late president.

Streets lined: Chavez, who was 58, will be laid to rest in a massive
state funeral on Friday - his death was announced on Tuesday following a
two-year battle against cancer

Military procession: His coffin, adorned with his country's flag, was placed on the top of a car and driven slowly to the military academy where his body will lie in state for three days

Protection: There was a heavy military presence amid fears of unrest - soldiers have been deployed after Venezuelan officials have called for peace and unity stating in television broadcasts that the government and the military were standing together

Decision: Authorities have not yet said where the late Venezuelan President Chavez will be buried after his state funeral on Friday

Start of procession: The flag-draped coffin containing the body of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez, left, is taken from the hospital where he died

Momentous: The crowd held out their mobile phones and cameras to capture the historic moment

Grief: His death has left his supporters, named Chavista's, devastated

An honor guard cries during the funeral cortege

Yesterday Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he had fallen 'martyr' to a 'suspect illness.'

Declaring
a national day of mourning , Ahmadinejad hailed his close ally for
'serving the people of Venezuela and defending human and revolutionary
values.'

There was no shortage of emotional farewells to a socialist hero who some feel rivaled the revolutionaries of the 1960s.

Cuban folk singer Silvio Rodriguez,
whose ode to revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara became famous, used the
song's title words to bid farewell to Chavez on his blog.

The
late president's orders for his succession appeared to be followed,
with vice-president Nicolas Maduro - who accused the U.S. of causing
Chavez's cancer - taking control of the government and the country shut
down for a week of mourning.

Maduro announced that the president died at 4.25pm local
time in the country's capital Caracas, using the broadcast to call for 'unity, tranquility and understanding'.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez died Tuesday at the age of 58 after developing a severe respiratory infection during his battle with cancer

Unity: Chavez died at 4:25pm local time in the country's capital Caracas, according to the announcement

Distraught: Supporters of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez cry outside the military hospital where President Hugo Chavez died

Grief: Supporters of Chavez react after learning that the president has died

Reaction: Supporters embrace outside the military hospital after learning of Chavez's death

Crowds: Supporters gather in Caracas after the announcement, waving the national flag and carrying a cutout of the President

Support: His charismatic style, anti-US rhetoric and oil-financed policies won favour among many Venezuelans

‘We have no doubt that commander Chavez was attacked with this illness,’ added Mr Maduro, blaming ‘imperialist’ foes led by
the United States.

He said: 'The old enemies of our fatherland looked for a way
to harm his health.’

Mr Maduro called on Venezualans to be
'dignified inheritors of the giant man', adding: 'Let there be no
weakness, no violence. Let there be no hate. In our hearts there should
only be one sentiment: Love. Love, peace and discipline.'

The
news came just hours after two U.S. Embassy
officials were expelled for allegedly meeting with military officers and planning
to destabilise the country.

Controversial: Chavez was a fierce opponent of the U.S. and other western governments

Departed leaders: Chavez meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican City in May 2006

HOW HUGO CHAVEZ DUG UP HIS IDOL'S BODY

Chavez modelled himself on the 19th century independence leader Simon Bolivar

He even ordered the 19th century revolutionary leader's bones exhumed and examined to test his theory that Bolivar was assassinated.

The big reveal did not offer much in the way of surprise.

With his high forehead and aquiline nose, the latest image shows that contemporary artists got Bolivar's face pretty much right.

Chavez has normally gave televised speeches in front of large paintings of Bolivar, a brilliant soldier and military tactician who led independence forces against the Spanish across the region, and ordered a striking new mausoleum built for Bolivar's remains, which will be finished soon.

Analysts from Criminal Justice International Associates recently estimated that the Chávez Frías family in Venezuela has 'amassed a fortune'' similar to that of the Castro brothers in Cuba - value of $1 billion.

His death drew cheers from Venezuelan immigrants in the U.S. who hoped for change in their homeland, and tears in Caracas.

In downtown Caracas, shops and restaurants began closing and Venezuelans hurried home after hearing the news.

Many feared violence would
surface and Raul Villegas, a Chavez supporter from western Caracas,
told The Independent: 'I will not be leaving my house for some time – I
expect riots to be happening throughout the city. Caracas isn't safe
tonight.'

Venezuelans in the U.S. cheered and
expressed cautious optimism that new elections will bring change to
their homeland after the death of President Hugo Chavez.

'My
hope is that Venezuela will become a free country once again,' said
Elizabeth Gonazalez, 52, who wore a smiley face sticker on her sweater
with the words, 'Venezuela without Chavez.'

A
jubilant celebration broke out in the Miami suburb of Doral late
Tuesday after word spread of the death of the 58-year-old leftist. Many
dressed in caps and T-shirts in Venezuela's colors of yellow, blue and
red.

'He's gone!' dozens
in the largely anti-Chavez community chanted.US President Barack Obama
said that his country hoped to develop its relationship with Venezuela.

In
a statement, he said: 'At this challenging time of President Hugo
Chavez's passing, the United States reaffirms its support for the
Venezuelan people and its interest in developing a constructive
relationship with the Venezuelan government.

Ally: Chavez was close to Iran's firebrand president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad

Long reign: After first being elected in 1998, Chavez was re-elected on two occasions

US DIPLOMATS EXPELLED AFTER 'INFECTING CHAVEZ WITH CANCER'

Venezuela's vice president announced on Tuesday that two U.S. Embassy officials were expelled for allegedly spying on Venezuela's military, as he accused the U.S. of infecting the Hugo Chavez with cancer.

U.S. Embassy's Air Force attache, Col. David Delmonaco, and assistant air attache, Maj. Devlin Kostal, were named as the officials being kicked out of the country.

The allegations against the American officials were made during a speech by Venezuelan Vice President Madurs, during which he accused 'the historical enemies of our homeland' of infecting the late Venezuelan leader.

He said the U.S. officials were being expelled as the government sought to remove elements 'seeking to stir up trouble' and compared the situation to the death of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, claiming Arafat was 'inoculated with an illness.'

The U.S. government confirmed that the two officials named were employed at the embassy as a State Department spokesman denied the allegations.

'As
Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States
remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the
rule of law, and respect for human rights.'

British Foreign Secretary William Hague paid tribute to the leader, who he said left a 'lasting impression' on the country.

Mr Hague said: 'I was saddened to learn of the death of President Hugo Chavez. As President of Venezuela for 14 years he has left a lasting impression on the country and more widely.

'I would like to offer my condolences to his family and to the Venezuelan people at this time.'

Former mayor of London Ken Livingstone, who was a close ally of Chavez, took to Twitter to express his condolences for the leader's death.

'Hugo Chavez showed there is an alternative to neo-liberalism and colonialism in Venezuela and worldwide,' the socialist firebrand wrote. 'He was a friend and comrade.

'The best tribute for Hugo Chavez is to redouble our efforts for a world free of exploitation and colonialism #RIP'

Seven days of mourning were declared,
all school was suspended for the week and friendly heads of state were
expected in this economically challenged and violence-afflicted nation
for an elaborate funeral on Friday.

Venezuela's
constitution specifies that the speaker of the National Assembly,
currently Diosdado Cabello, should assume the interim presidency if a
president cannot be sworn in.

But
the officials left in charge by Chavez before he went to Cuba in
December for his fourth cancer surgery in a little less than two years
have not been especially assiduous about heeding the constitution, and
human rights and free speech activists are concerned they will continue
to flaunt the rule of law.

Some
in anguish, some in fear, Venezuelans raced for home and stocked up on
food and water after the government announced Chavez's death.

The country's foreign minister Elias
Jaua said that elections will be held in 30 days to determine
who shall replace Chavez.

A government spokesman had earlier
said that the far-left leader, who has held control in the country for
14 years, was in a 'very delicate' condition in hospital.

Promising
that troops will safeguard the sovereignty of the country, he said
Chavez had died after 'battling a tough illness for nearly two years'.

He
compared the situation to the death of the Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat, claiming Arafat was 'inoculated with an illness'.

Maduro
is Chavez's anointed successor and has been taking on a larger role
since the socialist leader urged Venezuelans to choose him as president
before disappearing in early December to undergo a fourth round of
cancer surgery in Cuba.

Chavez married twice and divorced
twice - he had three children with his first wife, Nancy Colmenarez:
Rosa Virginia, Maria Gabriela and Hugo Rafael.

Years later, he married Marisabel Rodriguez, with whom he had a fourth daughter, Rosa Ines, but divorced in 2003.

Leader: Chavez had run Venezuela for more than 14 years, gradually placing all state institutions under his personal control

Election: Chavez's death is expected to trigger an election to determine who will replace the socialist leader

World leader: Chavez pictured with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 2001

Venezuela has had no first lady since then.

Supporters gathered on the streets of
the capital following the announcement, many in tears, brandishing
effigies and national flags.

'I feel a sorrow so big I can't
speak,' said Yamilina Barrios, a 39-year-old clerk who works in the
Industry Ministry, her face covered in tears. 'He was the best this
country had,' she said.

A group of masked, helmeted men on motorcycles, some brandishing revolvers attacked about 40 students after the announcement.

The students had been protesting for
more than a week near the Supreme Court building to demand the
government give more information about Chavez's health.

The attackers, who wore no clothing
identifying any political allegiance, burned the students' tents and
scattered their food just minutes after the death was announced.

Details of Chavez's health, who
championed a leftist revival across Latin America, have been cloaked in
mystery since he was first diagnosed with the disease in June 2011.

Celebration: Chavez talking to reporters after being freed from jail for organising a failed coup in 1992

In jail: Chavez, top left, with his fellow plotters after they were imprisoned for their coup attempt

Family: Chavez aged 21 with his parents Elena and Hugo graduating from military academy

Communications Minister Ernesto
Villegas earlier appeared on national television to announce that the
president was suffering from 'a new, severe infection'.

The president had neither been seen
nor heard from, except for a couple of hospital bed photos, since the surgery in Cuba for an
unspecified cancer in the pelvic area.

The Government said he returned home on February 18 and had been confined to Caracas' military hospital since.

Villegas said that Chavez was 'standing by
Christ and life conscious of the difficulties he faces'.

The president's death is expected to
trigger a snap election in 30 days,
though the opposition has argued that it
should have been held after Chavez was unable to be sworn in on January
10.

Mr Maduro called on Venezuelans to
convene in the capital's Bolivar Square, named for the 19th century
independence hero Simon Bolivar, who Chavez claimed as his chief
inspiration.

The vice president also called on the opposition to respect 'the people's pain'.

Announcement: The country's vice president Nicolas Maduro made the announcement on television surrounded by other officials

Chemotherapy: Chavez in 2011, pointing at his head to prove his hair was growing back

Chavez had not been seen in public nor heard from
since having surgery in Cuba on December 11.
It was his fourth operation since the disease was detected in his pelvic area in mid-2011.

The death of Chavez, who modelled himself on the 19th century independence leader Simon
Bolivar and renamed his country the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, will devastate millions of supporters.

His charismatic style, anti-US rhetoric and oil-financed policies that
brought subsidised food and free health clinics to long-neglected slums won him widespread support.

The campaigning has already
unofficially begun, with vice president Maduro, who Chavez has
said should succeed him, frequently commandeering all broadcast channels
to promote the 'revolution' and vilify the opposition.

The vote for a new president should be held within 30 days and will
probably pit the socialist Maduro against Henrique Capriles, the
centrist leader and state governor who lost to Chavez in the October.

Chavez has run Venezuela for more
than 14 years as a virtual one-man show, gradually placing all state
institutions under his personal control.

But the former army paratroop
officer who rose to fame with a failed 1992 coup, never groomed a
successor with his force of personality.

Chavez was last re-elected in
October, and his challenger Henrique Capriles, the youthful governor of
Miranda state, is expected to be the opposition's candidate again.

Family: Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez hugs his daughters Rosa (left) and Maria (right) while appearing to supporters on a balcony of Miraflores Palace soon after his return to the country from Cuba in July 2011

Proof of life: Chavez was also pictured looking at the Cuba Communist Party newspaper Granma

Commanding: Chavez polarised Venezuelans with his
confrontational and domineering style

One of Chavez's three daughters,
Maria Gabriela, earlier expressed thanks to well-wishers via her Twitter
account. 'We will prevail!' she wrote, echoing a favorite phrase of her
father. 'With God always.'

There had been speculation that
Chavez's cancer has spread to his lungs. Maduro said last week that the
president had begun receiving chemotherapy around the end of January.

Doctors have said that such therapy
was not necessarily to try to beat Chavez's cancer into remission but
could have been palliative, to extend Chavez's life and ease his
suffering.

While in Cuba, Chavez suffered a
severe respiratory infection that nearly killed him. A tracheal tube was
inserted then and government officials said his breathing remained
laboured.

Tributes were paid to the politician by world leaders and celebrities, including his friend Sean Penn, who said: 'Today the United States lost a friend it never knew it had'.

The actor added: 'Poor people around the world lost a champion. I lost a friend I was blessed to have. My thoughts are with the family of President Chavez and the people of Venezuela.'

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who survived cancer, said: 'Today a great Latin American died. On many occasions, the Brazilian government did not fully agree with President Hugo Chavez but today, as always, we recognize in him a great leader, an irreparable loss and, above all, a friend of Brazil.'

Influence: Hugo Chavez being greeted by former Prime Minister Tony Blair during a visit to Downing Street

Coup: Chavez was first elected president in 1998, after he led a failed coup in 1992

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera
said in a televised address: 'We undoubtedly had our differences, but I
was always able to appreciate the strength, the engagement with which
Chavez fought for his ideas.

'When his illness worsened and he had
to return to Cuba, I called him and I remember he told me ... that if
he had to face death, he wanted to do it in his country, in his beloved
Venezuela.'

Colombian President Juan Manuel
Santos told reporters: 'The obsession that united us and that was the
base of our relationship was peace in Colombia and the region. If we've
advanced in a solid peace process it's also thanks to the dedication and
commitment without limits of President Chavez and the Venezuelan
government.'

Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams remembered Chavez, who he said had
worked tirelessly to improve the lives of Venezuelan citizens.

He said: 'He dedicated himself to building a new and radical society in Venezuela.His progressive social and economic changes took millions out of poverty.

'He extended free health care and education for all citizens and his
re-election last year with a huge majority was testimony to his vision.'

Irish
President Michael D Higgins said: 'I was very sorry to hear of the
death, after a long illness, of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.

'President Chavez achieved a great deal during his term in office,
particularly in the area of social development and poverty reduction.'

After nightfall, several hundred people gathered at Bolivar Square, a symbolic place for Chavistas because it has a huge nine-meter-tall (30-foot-tall) statue of Simon Bolivar, the 19th century independence hero whom Chavez claimed as his chief inspiration.

Some arrived singing Venezuela's national anthem and holding up posters of Chavez.

One man began shouting through a megaphone a warning to the opposition: 'They won't return.' The crowd then joined in, chanting: 'They won't return.'

Chavez leaves behind a political movement firmly in control of a nation that human rights activist

Liliana Ortega, director of the non-governmental group COFAVIC, describes as a badly deteriorated state where institutions such as the police, courts and prosecutor's offices have been converted into tools of political persecution and where most media are firmly controlled by the government.

THE FIERY ONE-MAN SHOW WHO TRIED TO KICKSTART A REVOLUTION

President
Hugo Chavez, the fiery populist who declared a socialist revolution in
Venezuela, crusaded against US influence and championed a leftist
revival across Latin America.

During more than 14 years in office, Chavez routinely challenged the status quo at home and internationally.

He polarised Venezuelans with his
confrontational and domineering style, yet was also a masterful
communicator and strategist who tapped into Venezuelan nationalism to
win broad support, particularly among the poor.

Chavez repeatedly proved himself a
political survivor. As an army paratroop commander, he led a failed coup
in 1992, then was pardoned and elected president in 1998.

He survived a
coup against his own presidency in 2002 and won re-election two more
times.

The burly president electrified
crowds with his booming voice, often wearing the bright red of his
United Socialist Party of Venezuela or the fatigues and red beret of his
army days.

Before his struggle with cancer, he appeared on television
almost daily, talking for hours at a time and often breaking into song
of philosophical discourse.

Chavez used his country's vast oil
wealth to launch social programs that include state-run food markets,
new public housing, free health clinics and education programs.

Poverty declined during Chavez's
presidency amid a historic boom in oil earnings, but critics said he
failed to use the windfall of hundreds of billions of dollars to develop
the country's economy. Inflation soared and the homicide rate rose to among the highest in the world.

Chavez underwent surgery in Cuba in
June 2011 to remove what he said was a baseball-size tumor from his
pelvic region, and the cancer returned repeatedly over the next 18
months despite more surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

He kept secret key details of his illness, including the type of cancer and the precise location of the tumors.

Taking control: He was first elected president in 1998, becoming the country's youngest ever president

'El Comandante', as he was known,
stayed in touch with the Venezuelan people during his treatment via
Twitter and phone calls broadcast on television, but even those messages
dropped off as his health deteriorated.

Throughout his presidency, Chavez said he hoped to fulfill Bolivar's unrealized dream of uniting South America.

Supporters saw Chavez as the latest in
a colorful line of revolutionary legends, from Fidel Castro to Argentine-born
Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, while he saw himself as a revolutionary.

His performances
included renditions of folk songs and impromptu odes to Chinese
revolutionary Mao Zedong and 19th century philosopher Friedrich
Nietzsche.

Critics saw Chavez as a typical Latin
American caudillo, a strongman who ruled through force of personality
and showed disdain for democratic rules. Chavez concentrated power in
his hands with allies who dominated the congress and justices who
controlled the Supreme Court.

Popular: Chavez survived a coup against his own presidency in 2002 and won re-election two more times

He insisted all the while that
Venezuela remained a vibrant democracy and denied trying to restrict
free speech. But some opponents faced criminal charges and were driven
into exile.

While Chavez trumpeted plans for
communes and an egalitarian society, his soaring rhetoric regularly
conflicted with reality.

Despite government seizures of companies and
farmland, the balance between Venezuela's public and private sectors
changed little during his presidency.

And even as the poor saw their incomes
rise, those gains were blunted while the country's currency weakened
amid economic controls.

Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias was born on
July 28, 1954, in the rural town of Sabaneta in Venezuela's western
plains. He was the son of schoolteacher parents and the second of six
brothers.

When he joined
the military at 17, he aimed to keep honing his baseball skills in
the capital.

But the young soldier immersed himself
in the history of Bolivar and other Venezuelan heroes who had
overthrown Spanish rule, and his political ideas began to take shape.

Chavez burst into public view in 1992
as a paratroop commander leading a military rebellion that brought tanks
to the presidential palace. When the coup collapsed, Chavez was allowed
to make a televised statement. The speech launched
his career, searing his image into the memory of Venezuelans.

He and other coup prisoners were released in 1994, and President Rafael Caldera dropped the charges against them.

Chavez then organized a new political
party and ran for president four years later, vowing to shatter
Venezuela's traditional two-party system.

Idol: Cuban President Fidel Castro was one of Chavez's heroes

At age 44, he became the
country's youngest president in four decades of democracy with 56
percent of the vote.

Chavez was re-elected in 2000 in an
election called under a new constitution drafted by his allies. His
increasingly confrontational style and close ties to Cuba, however,
disenchanted many of the middle-class supporters who had voted for him.

In 2002, he survived a short-lived
coup, which began after a large anti-Chavez street protest ended in
deadly shootings.

Chavez emerged a stronger president.
He defeated a subsequent opposition-led strike that paralysed the
country's oil industry and he fired thousands of state oil company
employees.

Despite a souring relationship with the US, Chavez sold the bulk of Venezuela's oil to the country.

He easily won re-election in 2006, and then said it was his destiny to lead Venezuela until 2021 or even 2031.

Playing such a larger-than-life public figure ultimately left little time for a personal life. His second marriage, to journalist
Marisabel Rodriguez, deteriorated in the early years of his presidency,
and they divorced in 2004.

In addition to their one daughter, Rosines,
Chavez had three children from his first marriage, which ended before
Chavez ran for office.

Chavez acknowledged after he was
diagnosed with cancer that he had been recklessly neglecting his health.
He had taken to staying up late and drinking as many as 40 cups of
coffee a day. He regularly summoned his Cabinet ministers to the
presidential palace late at night.